Political Correctness and The Great Apostasy

POLITICAL correctness has become so entrenched, so predominant, so widespread in our times that men and women no longer seem capable of thinking for themselves. When presented with matters of right and wrong, the desire to “not offend” so outweighs that of truth, justice and common sense, that even the strongest wills collapse beneath the fear of being excluded or mocked. Political correctness is a like a fog through which a ship passes rendering even the compass useless amidst dangerous rocks and shoals. It is like an overcast sky that so blankets out the sun that the traveler loses all sense of direction in broad daylight. It is like a stampede of wild animals racing toward cliff’s edge who unwittingly hurtle themselves to destruction.

Political correctness is the seedbed of apostasy. And when it is so utterly widespread, it is the fertile soil of the Great Apostasy.

THE TRUE MISSION

Pope Paul VI famously said:

…the smoke of Satan is seeping into the Church of God through the cracks in the walls. —POPE PAUL VI, first Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, June 29, 1972

Error and heresy, that is, modernism, having been sown into the seedbed of “religious” political correctness in the past century, has bloomed today in the form of a false mercy. And this false mercy has now seeped everywhere in the Church, even to its summit.

The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church. —POPE PAUL VI, Address on the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions, October 13, 1977

The “loss of faith” here is not necessarily a loss of faith in the historical Christ, or even a loss of faith that He still exists. Rather, it is a loss of faith in His mission, enunciated clearly in Scripture and Sacred Tradition:

You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matt 1:21)

The purpose of Jesus’ preaching, miracles, passion, death and resurrection was to liberate mankind from the power of sin and death. From the beginning, however, He made it clear that this liberation was an individual choice, one that every man, woman and child of the age of reason are invited to make personally in a free response.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. (John 3:36)

According to Matthew, the very first word Jesus preached was “Repent.” [1]cf. Matt 3:2 Indeed, He reproached those towns where He loved, taught, and performed miracles “since they had not repented.” (Matt 11:20) His unconditional love always assured the sinner of His mercy: “Neither do I condemn you,” He told an adulteress. But His mercy also assured the sinner that Love sought their freedom: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more,”[2]cf. John 8:11 for “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”[3]cf. John 8:34 Thus, it is clear that Jesus came, not to restore humanity’s ego, but the imago dei: the image of God in which we are created. And this implied—no demanded in justice and truth—that our actions reflect that Image: “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.” [4]cf. John 15:10 Because if “God is love,” and we are being restored to His image—which is “love”—then our communion with Him, now and after death, depends on whether we in fact love: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”[5]John 15:12 Communion, that is, friendship with God—and ultimately, then, our salvation—is utterly dependent upon this.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves… (John 15:14-15)

Thus, St. Paul said, “How can we who died to sin yet live in it?” [6]Rom 6:2

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1)

So willfully remaining in sin, taught St. John, is a deliberate choice to remain outside of the touch of mercy and still within the grasp of justice.

You know that he was revealed to take away sins… The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin… In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:5-10)

There is an intrinsic link, therefore, between repentance and salvation, between faith and works, between truth and eternal life. Jesus was revealed to destroy the works of the devil in each and every soul—works which, if left unrepented, will exclude that person from eternal life.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21)

And thus, Jesus warned the post-Pentecost churches in the book of Revelation to “Be earnest, therefore, and repent… remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”[7]Rev 3:19, 2:10

A FALSE MERCY

But a false mercy has blossomed in this hour, one that strokes the ego of the sinner with overtures to God’s love and kindness, but without exhorting the sinner into the freedom that was bought for them by the blood of Christ. That is, it is a mercy without mercy.

Pope Francis has pushed as far as he possibly can the message of Christ’s mercy, knowing that we are living in a “time of mercy” that will soon expire. [8]cf. Opening Wide the Doors of Mercy I wrote a three-part series entitled, “The Thin Line between Mercy and Heresy” that explains the often misinterpreted approach of Jesus that Francis has also tried to employ (and history will judge his success). But Francis warned at the controversial Synod on the family, not only against the overly zealous and “rigid” guardians of the law, but he also warned of…

The temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness, that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called “progressives and liberals.” —Catholic News Agency, October 18th, 2014

This is pious political correctness, promoted by wolves in sheep’s clothing who no longer dance to the melody of the Divine Will but rather to the dirge of death. For Jesus said that “the wages of sin is death.” And yet, we hear priests and bishops emerging today promoting the idea that Jesus’ words are still open to interpretation; that the Church does not teach absolute truths, but ones that can change as she “develops doctrine.” [9]cf. LifeSiteNews The sophistry of this lie is so subtle, so smooth, that to resist it appears rigid, dogmatic, and closed off to the Holy Spirit. But in his “Oath against Modernism,” Pope St. Pius X refuted such casuistry.

I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. —September 1st, 1910; papalencyclicals.net

It is the heretical idea that “Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to continual and indefinite progress, corresponding with the progress of human reason.” [10]Pope Pius IX, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, n. 28; vatican.va It is the idea, for example, that one can knowingly be in a state of mortal sin, with no intention to repent, and still receive the Eucharist. It is a novel suggestion that neither proceeds from Scripture and Sacred Tradition nor “doctrinal development.”

In a footnote in Amoris Laetitia, which Pope Francis does not remember having been added, [11]cf. inflight interview, Catholic News Agency, April 16th, 2016 it says:

…the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” —Amoris Laetitia, footnote #351; vatican.va

Taken in itself, this statement is true. One can be in a “state of grace” and yet imperfect, since even venial sin “does not break the covenant with God… does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.” [12]Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1863 But taken in a context that one can knowingly persist in a state of mortal sin—ie. not be in a state of grace—and yet receive the Eucharist, is precisely what St. Paul warned against:

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. (1 Cor 11:29-30)

How can one receive Communion if he or she is not in communion with God, but in open rebellion? Thus, the “charism of truth” that the Church has been given through the Holy Spirit, and preserved in Apostolic Tradition, rejects the notion that…

…dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way. —POPE PIUS X, The Oath Against Modernism, Sept. 1st, 1910;papalencyclicals.net

THE DIVIDING LINE

And thus, we are coming to The Great Division in our times, the climax of the Great Apostasy that St. Pius X said was already fomenting one century ago, [13]cf. E Supremi, Encyclical On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, n. 3, 5; October 4th, 1903; see Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting and which Pope Francis describes as essentially “adultery”—a nuptial breach of that communion and covenant that each believer enters upon in baptism. It is a “worldliness” that…

…can lead us to abandon our traditions and negotiate our loyalty to God who is always faithful. This… is called apostasy, which… is a form of “adultery” which takes place when we negotiate the essence of our being: loyalty to the Lord. —POPE FRANCIS from a homily, Vatican Radio, November 18th, 2013

It is this present climate of political correctness that is bringing the fetid fruit of modernism into full blossom: individualism, which is the supremacy of conscience over divine revelation and authority. It is as if to say, “I believe in you Jesus, but not in your Church; I believe in you Jesus, but not the interpretation of your Word; I believe in you Jesus, but not in your rules; I believe in you Jesus—but I believe in myself more.”

Let authority rebuke them as much as it pleases—they have their own conscience on their side and an intimate experience which tells them with certainty that what they deserve is not blame but praise. Then they reflect that, after all, there is no progress without a battle and no battle without its victim, and victims they are willing to be like the prophets and Christ Himself… And so they go their way, reprimands and condemnations notwithstanding, masking an incredible audacity under a mock semblance of humility. —POPE PIUS X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Sept. 8th, 1907; n. 28;vatican.va

Is this not in full display in America where, for at least a moment, the veneer of political correctness has been shattered, exposing the depth of depravity that has existed “under a mock semblance of humility”? That semblance has quickly crumbled into anger, hatred, intolerance, pride, and what Francis calls “a spirit of adolescent progressivism.” [14]cf. Zenit.org

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. (John 3:20)

If this sounds harsh, it is because the dissolution of marriage, the family, and the dignity of the human person are no small thing. They are, in fact, the chief battleground in these “end times”:

…the final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family… anyone who operates for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue, however, Our Lady has already crushed its head. —Sr. Lucia, seer of Fatima, in an interview with Cardinal Carlo Caffara, Archbishop of Bologna, from the magazine Voce di Padre Pio, March 2008; cf. rorate-caeli.blogspot.com

This struggle parallels the apocalyptic combat described in [Rev 11:19-12:1-6, 10 on the battle between” the woman clothed with the sun” and the “dragon”]. Death battles against Life: a “culture of death” seeks to impose itself on our desire to live, and live to the full… Vast sectors of society are confused about what is right and what is wrong, and are at the mercy of those with the power to “create” opinion and impose it on others. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Cherry Creek State Park Homily, Denver, Colorado, 1993

It is precisely this individualistic relativism which St. Paul describes as “lawlessness” that, when it becomes universal, is a harbinger of the “lawless one”, the Antichrist…

…who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god. (2 Thess 2:4)

Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4)

The state of lawlessness, then, is not necessarily outer chaos—though, that is its necessary conclusion. Rather, it is an internal state of rebellion where the “I” is raised over the “we”. And through the “strong delusion” [15]cf. 2 Thess 2:11 of political correctness, the glorification of the “I” goes further: to impose that it is what is best for the “we.”

Brothers and sisters, we must boldly “pray and fight against [this] materialism, modernism and egoism.”[16]Our Lady of Medjugorje, January 25th, 2017, allegedly to Marija And we must fight against the anti-sacrament of false mercy, which absolves without healing and “binds the wounds without first curing them.” Rather, let each of us become apostles of Divine Mercy who love and accompany even the greatest of sinners—but all the way to true Freedom.

You have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy.—Virgin Mary speaking to St. Faustina, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 635